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Barnyard Buddies:  Bees nesting by my front door  |
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Caron
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
Caron
Orange
Texas
USA
535 Posts |
 Posted - May 31 2011 : 08:46:36 AM
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Zan, you're right it is odd that they charge since they are getting a nice new hive for their work, which if they sell honey is a money-maker for them. However I also contacted another guy who works more as a bee exterminator and he said he gets the same price or the lowest he goes is 275.00
Anyway, today is Tuesday and they will be here at 6:00p.m. (central time) and this will end. Then the fun part (for me anyway) will start which is I get to have the room re-painted! It's needed painting for years but we just put it off. I'm happy about this!
Caron
Happy Farmgirl Sister #254
"An Apron:Its strings gently tug at us, tenderly, softly calling us to turn back to the old ways".-Above Rubies Magazine |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2011 : 09:12:13 AM
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Caron- Please let us know how it goes today. Be sure to take some pics too! I really hate that this turned into such a mess for you. It never occurred to me they would migrate to inside the house. I figured they were just hanging out till a scout found them a new home. I didn't follow this thread to know they stayed so long or I would have warned you they had found a new home in your wall or attic if they were still there.
Have some clean jars ready. You can take the comb and crush it in a muslin bag (or an old pillow case) hang it up to drip into a bowl or bucket and get some honey from it. The wax left in the bag can be melted and cleaned for candles. I hope he will help you get some good comb.
I'm hoping the process will not be to destructive. Pick a pretty color!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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Caron
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
Caron
Orange
Texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2011 : 1:02:03 PM
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I will do that Connie! Do the jars need to be sterilized first? I have a muslin drawstring bag, also I heard nylon stockings can be used and I have clean new pairs of those.
Caron
Happy Farmgirl Sister #254
"An Apron:Its strings gently tug at us, tenderly, softly calling us to turn back to the old ways".-Above Rubies Magazine |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2011 : 1:20:43 PM
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Really clean will do for honey. You can use stockings too. It might be a little hard to get the comb in them. You could double filter by putting the stocking over the rim of the jar and securing with a rubber band. If you had a wide mouth container you could stretch the stocking over the top and secure it and put the comb right on top of that. Just watch out for dust or pet hairs they will find their way into honey like crazy. I usually don't double filter. But it is a personal preference thing.
Have fun with it.
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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Caron
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
Caron
Orange
Texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2011 : 5:14:38 PM
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The beekeeper is still at work but the bees had filled up a third of the wall and were working on a second section!It is just amazing how fast they can work. Sadly the honeycomb fell out of the wall onto the floor but I have salvaged a pretty good chunk ( plus all of the second comb they were building) to get some honey from.
I didn't realize the comb is such a light color I guess I've only seen it inside a jar of honey before. Kinda pretty!
Caron
Happy Farmgirl Sister #254
"An Apron:Its strings gently tug at us, tenderly, softly calling us to turn back to the old ways".-Above Rubies Magazine |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2011 : 5:30:52 PM
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You have brand new comb less than a year old. It yellows as it ages. Bees fill the holes and cap it off to use for winter food. They will keep filling and emptying as long as the comb holds up. It can get quite dark. What you have will be almost white and will have a very mild bee's wax smell.
Have you tasted the honey yet?
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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Caron
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
Caron
Orange
Texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2011 : 05:46:37 AM
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I did taste the honey, it is mild and delicious! This cone is new as you say, probably about a month and a half old. Part of the comb had snapped off and fallen to the floor inside the wall. It had begun to rot and was full of maggots. Ewwww. The beekeeper said that's why we were seeing some bees coming into the house, from that fallen part they were finding the crack and coming out.The honey I saw on the ground outside and on my floor for a couple of days was from the fallen piece.
Most of the comb was full of brood, so the queen had been busy laying eggs this past month and a half. But still there was enough of honeyfilled comb to provide some good jars of honey for us!
Caron
Happy Farmgirl Sister #254
"An Apron:Its strings gently tug at us, tenderly, softly calling us to turn back to the old ways".-Above Rubies Magazine |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2011 : 06:16:54 AM
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I bet that honey is good, Caron. I'm so glad he came and got them for you. Now comes the fun part! I hope you have help.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - Jun 01 2011 : 08:36:41 AM
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Thanks for keeping us posted despite the craziness going on. Good luck with the repairs!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2011 : 03:56:23 AM
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We had an incident similar to this that is costing quite a bit to repair. Not mch from the ees, but b/c siding needed to be removed to remove the bees, and it just kind of escalated from there.
Come to find out, the wall h=behund the chimney was totally rotted out. So we are into a very costly repair and will get new siding in the process.
The bees were "removed" by our bee keeper friend, but they never settled down in their new location, so the queeen was never successfully. About a week later, I gues from all the banging and carrying on, they swarmed and then headed for the woods.
I felt so bad, but they made sawdust out of our insulation. It was too soon for honey, but there were 3 walls of comb with baby bees in them. The chickens got a treat and the bees found a new home.
A few stragglers did find their way into the kitchen (our newly remodeled kitchen -not eve a year old) so I was kind of freaked out when the damage was going to be so close to the new drywall and such
I hope your story unds up not costing much.
Good news was, when my uncle passed, brother and I each received 1,000 so nothihng gained, nothing lost. His is going to help pay for a crusie next summer, and we get new siding and a beefier home structure |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2011 : 06:21:19 AM
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I hear stories like this all the time. They can really cause some trouble. We do everything we can to keep them from swarming but sometimes they don't give any signs in advance. Bee keepers don't want to lose their bees. And we sure don't want to cause problems for other people. We had a bee tree on our property that swarmed and we never knew where they went. Sure would have loved to catch that swarm.
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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Caron
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
Caron
Orange
Texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2011 : 8:08:25 PM
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I was thankful our beekeeper was able to remove the bees through our living room wall which is sheetrock instead of through the outside which is shingle siding that has been there since the 1950's and is not sold anymore. We will have to put up new sheetrock on that wall which is not costly,and some paint (I thought we would get to repaint the whole room but that looks like now it won't happen so we'll repaint that wall). Most of our bees comb inside the wall was brood so we got some honey but not a lot. I hope our bees are doing well in their new home. A few forgotten ones were in the house but I got them out, and a few scout bees came by to check things out and look over the tarp laying outside that had some honey on it. But thankfully nobody is trying to move in!
Caron
Happy Farmgirl Sister #254
"An Apron:Its strings gently tug at us, tenderly, softly calling us to turn back to the old ways".-Above Rubies Magazine |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2011 : 8:13:19 PM
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I'm so glad it worked out well for you Caron. And you know who to call if you ever have another swarm!
connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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Barnyard Buddies: Bees nesting by my front door |
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Bees nesting by my front door
